Four of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's closest aides resigned on Thursday and his finance minister criticized him over a barb he made about the main opposition leader, in a tumultuous day for his government.
Johnson's premiership is facing a growing crisis in the wake of anger over a series of alcohol-fuelled parties held at his Downing Street office and residence during coronavirus lockdowns, a scandal that followed a series of other missteps.
Johnson's chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, communications director Jack Doyle and Munira Mirza, his head of policy, all resigned on Thursday.
Three of the officials were directly linked to the Downing Street gatherings, and two senior Conservatives said it looked like the start of a reset in Johnson's administration.
Johnson's office said Rosenfield and Reynolds would remain in their posts for the time being.
Earlier this week, Johnson promised an overhaul of his Downing Street operation after a report criticized "serious failures of leadership" over a series of gatherings that were held there during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Amid plummeting popularity ratings and open calls for his resignation from some of his own lawmakers, Johnson has also been condemned for accusing Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, one of Britain's worst sex offenders, during his time as director of public prosecutions.
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The false claim, which Starmer said amounted to Johnson "parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists," has angered not only opponents but also some within his own party.
Johnson has declined to apologize but did back down from the comments on Thursday. However, it was not enough to stop Munira Mirza, his head of policy who had worked with him for 14 years, from quitting her job and also provoked criticism from Finance Minister Rishi Sunak.
Asked whether the prime minister should have apologized, Sunak — considered the leading contender to replace Johnson should he be forced out — said: "Being honest, I wouldn't have said it, and I am glad the prime minister clarified what he said."
Savile, a celebrated TV and radio host, was never prosecuted despite a number of police investigations and warnings about his conduct. After his death in 2011 at age 84, it was revealed Savile had abused hundreds of victims, the youngest of whom was just eight.
Starmer, who headed the Crown Prosecution Service at a time when Savile was being investigated, had no direct involvement in the case, but he did later apologize for the failings.
In interviews on Thursday, Johnson tried to back down from his original comments, which provoked scorn not just from opponents but from some in his own Conservative Party.
'Hot under the collar'
"I want to be very clear about this because a lot of people have got very hot under the collar," Johnson told broadcasters.
"I'm talking not about the leader of the opposition's personal record when he was … DPP, and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions."
But Mirza said there had been no fair or reasonable basis for his original assertion.
"This was not the usual cut and thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse," the Spectator magazine cited Mirza as saying in a letter to Johnson.
"I hope you find it in yourself to apologize for a grave error of judgment made under huge pressure…. It is not too late for you but, I'm sorry to say, it is too late for me."
Johnson said he was sorry to lose Mirza but rejected her assessment that his Starmer comments were inappropriate.
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To compound his woes, his director of communications, Jack Doyle, considered one of his inner circle, also left the government on Thursday. However, the Daily Mail reported that his departure was not connected to Mirza's resignation.
Johnson is trying to weather the gravest threat to his leadership, with his ratings dropping and the Conservatives falling well below Labour in opinion polls.
He faced renewed calls to resign after a report on Monday found that parties had taken place at Downing Street while COVID-19 lockdown rules were in force, gatherings that police are also investigating.
